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How ESR impacts cancer research across the nation (and the globe)

If you’re reading this, there’s a good chance you’ve committed to riding Empire State Ride this year or you’re thinking about tackling this adventure of a lifetime soon. ESR has strong New York ties, particularly Western New York, the home of Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. 

But what if your out-of-state donors or your prospective donors don’t have those same ties? Maybe they’ve never stepped foot in Buffalo, but they’re passionate about finding cures for cancer or they’re simply interested in supporting endeavors you’re passionate about.  Maybe you’re from out of state and are looking for a way to explain your impact. 

Here's what you can tell donors about the impact you’re making through ESR.

1.

When you make a gift to support Roswell Park through ESR, you’re ultimately making a worldwide impact.

Through regional, national and global collaboration, the funds that come to Roswell Park go into efforts that will change the way we prevent, diagnose and treat cancers of all kinds everywhere. After all, we’re all on the same side in the fight against cancer.

Rider holds gratitude banner with all her loved ones on it and the ESR sign in the background

2.

Donations fuel cancer research at Roswell Park. That research can be done by small local teams or larger, collaborative teams.

Either way, if the studies bring incredible discoveries (as they often do), that research leaves the lab and enters the realm of clinical trials which expand to reach patients everywhere. Still other research contributes to growing pools of data that scientists all over can learn from as our experts at Roswell Park make sense of what they’re finding hidden in our genes and in our immune systems.

A sign honoring loved ones affected by cancer

3.

Many clinical trials at Roswell Park are funded by donor support.

While every trial starts small, careful study brings those trials to patients in Western New York and then beyond. Clinical trials reach cancer centers all over, meaning they reach patients all over, bringing those promising treatments to people who are searching for hope in the toughest times of their lives. International partnerships in clinical trials have brought treatments developed by Roswell Park investigators to Australia, Canada, Cuba, China and beyond.

ESR rider holds sign at finish line in Niagara Falls

4.

The comprehensive cancer center in your region may have collaborated with Roswell Park on lifechanging work.

One easy way to start looking into that is through a simple search on Roswell Park’s website and the website of your local center.

Rider points to the back of his jersey, which honors loved ones affected by cancer

Looking forward

East coast, west coast, northern or southern hemisphere; any effort to better understand and more effectively treat and cure cancer is good news for all of us. Thank you, wholeheartedly, for joining us in this mission to end cancer as we know it. For good. Everywhere.

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Top fundraisers bring innovative research to the forefront

2021 Top Fundraisers Brought an Innovative New Research Project to Roswell Park

Every year, Empire State Ride brings in funds that are dedicated toward Roswell Park’s mission to continue to uncover better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat all kinds of cancers. Road warriors pave the way for lifechanging new treatments, groundbreaking clinical trials and innovative research and discoveries.

On Sac Grants

Roswell Park is pushing to eliminate cancer’s grip on humanity every day. Over the years, we’ve seen the genesis of groundbreaking and lifesaving advances right here in Buffalo. Those new treatments and findings all have their start with new questions and ideas from Roswell Park scientists.

 

That’s where Roswell Park’s Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) comes in. Researchers submit their project proposals, all looking to continue to learn more about cancer. Through a competitive and rigorous process, these investigators and their work have been funded. These grants are made possible by the generosity of Roswell Park fundraisers and their donors, without whom, these projects could not get off the ground and make their marks on cancer as we know it.

From Fundraising to research

In 2022, the funds raised by the 2021 top Excelsior fundraisers (those who raised $20,000 or more) for Empire State Ride were put toward one project in particular. These road warriors have empowered Roswell Park to investigate racial health disparities for African American men with prostate cancer in a project led by Anna Woloszynska, PhD, Roswell Park Associate Professor of Oncology in the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics.

 

In Western New York, African American men are more likely than other men to have prostate cancer, more likely to have aggressive forms and more likely to lose their battle. Dr. Woloszynska’s research will take a deeper look at these patients’ epigenetic age — a way of determining age not in terms of one’s chronological age or time on Earth, but their biological age, taking into account disease risks and exposures — to determine if their epigenetic age is accelerated and if that contributes to early onset disease in patients younger than 55 years old. The findings will lay the groundwork for discoveries that will hopefully identify higher risk individuals and save more lives, reducing and ultimately eliminating the existing racial health disparity.

Top 2021 Excelsior Fundraisers

This work is made possible by the top ESR 2021 Excelsior fundraisers and their donors:

·         John Arfman

·         Terry Bourgeois

·         David Brown

·         Thomas Flynn

·         Anne Gioia

·         Gary Kuhlmann

·         Jerry Lewandowski

·         Richard Noll

·         Maria Coccia Thor

·         Geoffrey Wilk

 

Because of these riders and everyone who supported them, Roswell Park will be able to gain a deeper understanding of cancer and seek to bridge gaps in healthcare, providing the best possible treatment for every patient. Thanks to road warriors and every person who contributes to Empire State Ride, research like this can continue to move forward, guiding us in the best ways to fight cancer.

Looking forward

In the same way, the 2022 top fundraisers are going to make a direct impact on emerging cancer research at Roswell Park. Keep an eye out for those fundraisers and the work their fundraising will support.

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